Ireland’s Elves to take care of old cars

Ireland – Ireland’s environment minister Denis Naughten has launched a new industry-funded car recycling scheme. The end-of-life vehicle (ELV) initiative is called Elves and is said to be similar to the Repak ELT scheme for post-consumer tyres.

Some 90 000 cars are scrapped in Ireland every year. According to 2014 data, around 90% of Ireland’s old vehicles were disposed of properly whereas Naughten’s objective is to reach 95% over the next couple of years.

The new Elves scheme is based around a series of approved treatment facilities that will accept the cars free of charge. But even with the initiative running successfully, the minister admits that it will be ‘challenging’ to meet the mandatory EU targets for vehicle recycling.

Consumers will receive a certificate of destruction after dropping off their vehicles; any parties found to be scrapping cars without using the certificate system will be liable to fines of Euro 100.

Naughten says the compliance scheme represents ‘a straightforward means’ for vehicle importers to fulfil their obligations and he has urged both them and car manufacturers to help fund it.